Applied Catalysis Research for Renewable Diesel Production and Glycerol Utilization

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About three quarters of the world’s primary energy consumption is linked to fossil-based energy resources such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Decreasing crude-oil reserves, increased production costs and worldwide demand for fuel have, however, increased climate concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels and encouraged Governments to shift the focus towards the improved use of renewable energy resources such as biomass. Biomass refers to carbon-neutral renewable energy resources that can be used to produce renewable diesel and valuable ‘green’ chemicals. Canada currently produces over 700 million liters (ML)/year of biodiesel and over 70 ML of glycerol, and has the resources to produce >1.3 billion liters/year of biodiesel. While chemical processes are available to derive biofuels from inexpensive and abundant nonfood biomass, significant production and technological challenges remain. The key to improving the vegetable oil conversion to biodiesel and making it more economical and viable is better catalyst performance. The first proposed research project will investigate efficient biodiesel production catalytically from microalgae, fryer grease, and low quality vegetable oils derived from canola, mustard oil, and soya oil. Novel mesoporous zeolites including MAS-7 and MAS-9 supported tungstophosporic acid will be developed for this process. These solid acids can handle both triglycerides and free fatty acids present in low quality oils. The usage of solid acids eliminates water use and reduce the operating costs of biodiesel production. Cost can be further reduced by using glycerol to produce biochemicals such as glycerol ethers and carbonates. Glycerol ethers will be produced catalytically from the etherification of glycerol with an alcohol. Glycerol carbonate will be produced through carbonylation reaction using solid catalysts. The second proposed research project will develop Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) technology with supported Fe and Co catalysts for converting syngas to transportation fuel. The diesel produced via FTS is of superior quality with no sulfur, nitrogen or aromatic pollutants. Pt supported and mixed oxides will be developed for hydrocracking of the FTS wax followed by isomerization for jet fuel fraction. Multifunctional nano Mo particles promoted with alkali and supported on carbon materials and mesoporous Al2O3 and ZrO2 and mixed oxides will be created for higher alcohol synthesis. The research will attempt to create and characterize novel catalysts, correlate their properties with their reactivity, and test their sensitivities to feed gas variabilities and produced water. The catalyst life, reaction mechanism and kinetics will be evaluated. Life cycle analyses and the process economics studies will be conducted to identify the catalysts and process conditions most suitable for renewable diesel production and glycerol utilization.